hello all, i live in CA, never before did a bass fishing , and would like to learn, practice, and participate in my first amateur tournament. 

can you please recommend the first steps in terms of which club membership i need, any classes, practical training you recommend, how to enroll into a tournament?

 

any other useful information that you could share that will help a novice fisherman like myself -- will be much appreciated! 

 

thanks a lot! 

The first thing I would do is to join a local club. I'd sit in on a few different club's meetings and pick a club that "feels' right to you. Typically, a club will have a tourney once a month and this is a great way to spend the day with a different person each month and pick their brain for info. Go in as a non-boater so you can just ride along and observe. You will be able to tell who knows what and those are the people you want to pay attention to.

The first thing I would do is to join a local club. I'd sit in on a few different club's meetings and pick a club that "feels' right to you. Typically, a club will have a tourney once a month and this is a great way to spend the day with a different person each month and pick their brain for info. Go in as a non-boater so you can just ride along and observe. You will be able to tell who knows what and those are the people you want to pay attention to.

This^^  and read, read some more, read what you read again.  Watch all the videos you can!  Start off learning about 5 techniques.  Learn them! Be efficient!  Then you can pick up more techniques.  Good luck in your adventure.  Just remember, it is a life long journey.  No reason to sprint through it!

I would recommend that you try to find someone local ...to go out fishing with you ,and learn about rods, reels, lines, lures ,knots and finding fish....Stick with a few basic lures til you build some confidence and shorten the learning curve.

Read Bass Fishing Resource's articles & watch the bassresource videos on youtube!

Thank you all for your advice. 

Just search for Bass clubs on line in your local area.  I'm in Southern Ca and  just took up Bass fishing this year. I went to two local clubs before deciding which one to join and I can tell you that I learn something at each meeting and each tournament.  Joining a club is the best advice because watching all the you tube videos doesn't match up to seeing it up close and personal.